Pro-gun activists plan ‘tactful’ rally in South Burlington

Scott laid out a wide-ranging action plan on gun violence in Montpelier on Feb. 22, 2018. He was deeply moved by the case of a man accused of planning a school shooting in Fair Haven.
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Gun control opponents wearing hunter orange pack the gallery in the Vermont House of Representatives on Tuesday March 27, 2018 in Montpelier, Vt. The House is set to debate Tuesday afternoon a measure that would raise the legal age for gun purchases, expand background checks and ban high-capacity magazines and rapid-fire devices known as "bump stocks." Opponents say the legislation is unconstitutional and won't enhance school safety. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring)(Photo: WILSON RING/AP)

Marchers at a pro-gun rights rally Saturday at K-Mart Plaza are welcome to bear arms — as long as the weapons are handled responsibly, organizers say.

“I’ve told people to do what you’re comfortable with,” said Christopher Covey, who is leading the Pro Rights 2A march to support Second Amendment constitutional guarantees of gun ownership, and to protest Vermont lawmakers’ recent attempt to regulate firearms.

The new Vermont law would raise the legal age for gun purchases, extend mandatory background checks to private gun sales; and ban the sale of high-capacity magazines and “bump-stocks” (devices that greatly increase the firing rate of a semi-automatic rifle).

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Gov. Phil Scott announces that his beliefs about the need for gun laws have “changed completely” on Feb. 22, 2018.(Photo: APRIL MCCULLUM/FREE PRESS)

Nothing in the new law would further restrict Vermonters’ relatively relaxed right to own and tote firearms.

Covey, who grew up in Winooski and Colchester and now runs a tree-service in Williamstown, plans to strap a .45 caliber pistol to his hip for the event — a legal “concealed carry” in the Green Mountain State.

He has urged rally attendees to exercise that and other gun rights.

“I’m telling them, ‘Stop complaining on Facebook; show your face and do something,’” he said Wednesday. “But I’m not going to tell people what they can or can’t do at the rally.”

He plans to set some limits, however.

“We don’t want displays of aggression. If someone takes a rifle off his shoulder and starts waving it around, they’ll be asked to leave,” he said.

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Gun-rights advocates attend a news conference at the Statehouse in Montpelier on March 27, 2018.(Photo: APRIL MCCULLUM/FREE PRESS)

The rally’s Facebook page on Wednesday afternoon showed about 25 people had posted an intention to attend the two-hour event, which begins at noon.

More than 100 on the event page marked themselves as “interested” in attending, but without committing to do so.

South Burlington Police Chief Trevor Whipple said Covey had notified the city, and that no permit was required.

“They can rally on public space as long as they don’t obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic,” Whipple wrote in an email.

No special police presence is planned for the event, the chief added.

Neither Whipple nor Covey is aware of any planned counter-protests.

Covey urged his supporters against signs or language that might be construed as confrontational.

“They should be classy — tasteful and tactful,” he said. “Nothing with profane or vulgar language.

“I’m playing by the rules and trying to do it without upsetting anybody,” Covey continued. “I want people to come up and talk with me. I don’t want people yelling at me – I’d like people to sit down to talk, to learn more about what I believe in.”

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An AR-15 assault-style weapon is seen at Dattilio's Guns & Tackle on Shelburne Road in South Burlington in 2013.(Photo: RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS FILE)

But a relaxed give-and-take with gun-control advocates is less likely to take place if activists are wielding “long guns” (rifles and shotguns), posted Joseph Chagnon on the event’s Facebook page.

Galen Blodgett, also on Facebook, wrote he planned to attend, but would leave his long gun at home.

Covey, aside from his .45, will carry a sign with the message “Remember in November,” which he says will serve notice to legislators — and the governor — that gun control will cost them votes in the next election.

“I campaigned very hard for Phil Scott last time around. He lives next door to my father,” Covey said. “I don’t agree with him on this matter, but we’ll stay friends when it’s over.”